YELLOW CARDINAL Gubernatrix cristata V9 Formerly very widespread in Argentina and common in Uruguay, with outlying populations in Paraguay (possibly now extinct) and southernmost Brazil, this distinctive emberizid has been trapped intensively as a cagebird for over a century and is now rare everywhere except locally in the southern parts of its range. DISTRIBUTION The Yellow Cardinal (see Remarks 1) has been recorded from Paraguay, extreme southern Brazil (Rio Grande do Sul), Uruguay and eastern Argentina from Salta south to Río Negro. Unless otherwise indicated, coordinates in the following account are taken from OG (1968), Paynter (1985) and Rand and Paynter (1981) and records at individual localities are of single birds, pairs or an unspecified number of birds collected or observed. Paraguay Sclater and Hudson (1888-1889) gave Paraguay as a range state, but this was presumably a guess. Bertoni (1914) questioned its occurrence (although he later ambiguously claimed it for the “Chaco”: Bertoni 1939), Hellmayr (1938) believed no authentic record existed, and neither Ridgely and Tudor (1989) nor Hayes et al. (1991) listed it for the country. However, two specimens in BMNH were taken at “Villa Rica” (Villarrica), Guairá department, on 12 May and 10 October 1905 (see Population), and two others (in BMNH and MCZ) are simply labelled “Paraguay” (that in BMNH before 1886). Brazil There appear to be just a few records, all from Rio Grande do Sul: between Tapes and Camaquã, November 1980 (see Belton 1984-1985), apparently the northernmost record in the country; São Lorenço (= São Lorenço do Sul), undated (Hellmayr 1938, Belton 1984-1985); Jaguarão, a nineteenth century record (von Ihering 1899); a cattle ranch north of “Tahym” (Taim), July 1931 (specimen in AMNH); on the Uruguayan border south of Santa Victoria (Santa Vitória do Palmar), August 1931 (three specimens in AMNH); the westernmost part of the state, occasionally (Belton 1984- 1985). Uruguay Records (roughly from north to south) are: (Paysandú) near río Daymán, where eight birds were observed on 2 May 1978 (Arballo 1990); (Tacuarembó) Caraguatá (= Cuchilla Caraguatá, 32°14’S 54°59’W), April 1930 (specimen in MCZ); (Cerro Largo) arroyo del Cordobés (32°30’S 55°19’W), 28 km north of Cerro Chato (untraced), March 1970 (specimen in MNHNM); (Río Negro) Rincón de Baygorria (c.32°50’S 56°50’W), April 1960 (specimen in MNHNM); (Treinta y Tres) unspecified (Cuello and Gerzenstein 1962); (Soriano/Flores) rincón of Arroyo Grande and Arroyo Ojosmín (33°08’S 57°09’W), May 1893 (Aplin 1894); (Lavalleja) “Minas” (= Lavalleja department), undated (Tremoleras 1920); (Colonia) Nueva Palmira, April 1927 (specimen in MACN); arroyo de las Limetas, Estancia San Jorge (c.34°10’S 58°13’W), January 1970 (three specimens in MNHNM); (Canelones) unspecified (Tremoleras 1920); (Maldonado) north of Gruta la Salamanca (untraced), May 1964 (specimen in MNHNM); (Rocha) Lazcano, February 1921 (Wetmore 1926); Paso Alamo, on the arroyo Sarandi (33°47’S 53°35’W), February 1921 (Wetmore 1926); San Vicente (= Castillos, 34°12’S 53°50’W), January 1921 (Wetmore 1926). Argentina Records by provinces (roughly from north to south) are: (Salta) Rivadavia, where the species was found nesting in 1967 (Hoy 1969); (Formosa) “eastern Formosa” (no further details given) (Olrog 1979, hence presumably Nores et al. 1983, Ridgely and Tudor 1989); (Chaco) occurrence assumed (Lynch Arribálzaga 1920; hence or also the distribution maps in Narosky and Yzurieta 1987, Ridgely and Tudor 1989, and Canevari et al. 1991); (Misiones) savannas in the south of Misiones, undated (Olrog 1979, hence presumably Ridgely and Tudor 1989); (Tucumán) “Tucuman”, October 1899 (Lillo 1902, Hartert and Venturi 1909) and February 1904 (specimen in AMNH); (Santiago del Estero) Gramilla (27°18’S 64°37’N), November 1963 (Nores et al. 1991, whence coordinates); (Corrientes) Esteros de Iberá, August 1972 (specimen in LSUMZ); at 29°S, where three pairs were observed (de Azara 1802-1805), these records being attributed to this province by Wetmore (1926); BirdLife International (1992) Threatened Birds of the Americas. 1 Cambridge, UK: BirdLife International. Threatened birds of the Americas Mercedes, January and February 1953 (two specimens in MACN); Estancia Rincón del Ombú (29°28’S 57°50’W), September 1961 (three specimens in AMNH), October 1961 (six specimens in AMNH and LSUMZ); Curuzú-Cuatiá, between April and May 1917 (Marelli 1918); Estancia Barrancas (untraced but apparently on the right – i.e. Corrientes – side of the río Guayquiraró: Paynter 1985), January-February 1873 (Doering 1874); (Santa Fe) northern Santa Fe, where the species was reported nesting (Pereyra 1938); Nueve de Julio department (28°50’S 61°20’W), undated (Giai 1950); La Gallareta (29°34’S 60°23’W), where two nests were found in November 1974 (de la Peña 1987); Estancia Los Molles (30°02’S 60°46’W), “summer” (presumably 1924) (Renard 1924) and September 1932 (Freiberg 1943); Esperanza (presumably the large town in Santa Fe), June 1902 (specimen in MZUSP); banks of the río Paraná near Santa Fe, undated (Gould 1841); (Entre Ríos) “Entrerios”, sometime before 1912 (three specimens in BMNH); San Joaquín (presumably Estancia San Joaquín at 30°44’S 59°59’W: see Remarks 2), January 1924 (Friedmann 1927); Santa Elena (30°57’S 59°48’W), November (presumably 1922), (Serié and Smyth 1923) and February 1924 (Friedmann 1927; specimen in MCZ); near Federal, where two pairs were observed in June 1986 (J. C. Chebez in litt. 1992); Estancia Vizcacheras (31°08’S 59°46’W), April 1961 (15 specimens in AMNH, CM and YPM); San Salvador (31°37’S 58°30’W), January 1914 (specimen in MACN); Paraná department (31°40’S 60°00’W), where three birds were collected in January 1927, December 1932 and December 1929 (Freiberg 1943); Paraná, in the 1850s (Burmeister 1861); Ceibas (32°26’S 58°45’W), recently (E. I. Abadie per M. Pearman in litt. 1992); Concepción del Uruguay, 1879 (Barrows 1883); “La Soledad” (= Estancia La Soledad, 32°30’S 58°41’W; see Paynter 1985), January 1899 (specimen in AMNH); (La Rioja) listed without detail by Nores et al. (1983) and shaded on maps in Ridgely and Tudor (1989) and Canevari et al. (1991); (San Juan) Valle Fertil (Valle Fertil = San Agustín de Valle Fértil 30°38’S 67°27’W), undated (Haene 1987); (Córdoba) San Francisco del Chañar, present around 1983 (Nores et al. 1983); Capilla del Monte, December 1894 (specimen in BMNH), June 1913 (specimen in ROM); Cosquín (31°15’S 64°29’W), between July and October 1882 (White 1883; also BMNH label data); near Córdoba in the 1850s (Burmeister 1861); Valle de los Reartes (31°55’N 64°34’W), where the species nested in the “spring” of 1903 and it was hunted and observed in November 1916 (Castellanos 1931-1934); Los Cóndores (32°20’S 64°16’W), November 1982 (Nores et al. 1983); San Roque (untraced but presumably near the Lago de San Roque, 31°23’S 64°29’W), Sierra de Córdoba, at 700 m, December 1915 (specimen in CM); (San Luis) San Martín, 1987 (Bascarán 1987); Sierra de las Quijadas National Park (32°33’S 67°02’W), currently (J. C. Chebez in litt. 1992); Villa General Roca, 1987 (Bascarán 1987); Papagayos (32°41’S 65°00’W), November 1958 (specimen in UNP); near El Trapiche (33°07’S 66°05’W), September 1990 (G. Gil and E. Haene per J. C. Chebez in litt. 1992); Chischaca (33°52’S 66°15’W), December 1925 (two specimens in MACN); Batavia, 1987 (Bascarán 1987); “Nabia” (presumably Navia, at 34°47’S 66°35’W), 1987 (Bascarán 1987); Estancia El Bosque (c.35°07’S 65°15’W), September 1916 (four specimens in MACN); Anchorena (35°41’S 65°27’W), Arizona, Bagual and Esperanza (untraced), all four in 1987 (Bascarán 1987); (Buenos Aires) Escobar (Belén de Escobar, 34°21’S 58°47’W), July 1929 (specimen in MACN); Barracas al Sud (= Avellaneda), November 1900 (Hartert and Venturi 1909); “Conchitas” (= Guillermo E. Hudson, 34°47’S 58°10’W), October 1868 (Sclater and Salvin 1868-1869; specimen in AMNH); La Plata, March 1898 (specimen in FMNH) and October 1903 (specimen in MACN); Atalaya (35°02’S 57°32’W), May 1908 (specimen in AMNH); Monte Veloz (35°27’S 57°17’W), August and October 1919 (two specimens in UNP); Bosque del Meridiano (untraced but near “Darregueira” = Darragueira), where nesting in November 1988, this perhaps being the most northern breeding record in the province (Narosky et al. 1990); Villa Iris, November 1958 (specimen in UNP); 20-30 km south of Bahía Blanca, Montes de Oca (38°55’S 63°21’W), Pedro Luro and Villa Longa, currently in all four (Bascarán 1987); “Casas” (= José B. Casás, 40°25’S 62°33’W), October 1960 (specimen in YPM); Carmen de Patagones, currently (Bascarán 1987); (La Pampa) Parera and Caleufú, currently (Bascarán 1987); General Pico, December 1938 and June 1943 (two specimens in MACN); Conhello (36°01’S 64°36’W), where the species was found “very common” in November 1922 (Pereyra 1923); Luan Toro (36°12’S 65°02’W), December 1935 (specimen 2 1992 Threat categories Gubernatrix cristata in MACN); Victorica, December 1920 (Wetmore 1926) and currently (Bascarán 1987); Santa Isabel, Telén, Algarrobo de Aguila, La Copelina, Mahuida and Veinticinco de Mayo, currently in all six (Bascarán 1987); Lihué-Calel National Park (38°02’S 65°33’W), currently (Canevari et al. 1991, M. Babarskas in litt. 1992, G. Gil per J. C. Chebez in litt. 1992); Puelches, currently (Bascarán 1987); (Río Negro) from Contralmirante Cordero (38°44’S 68°10’W) in the west to Viedma in the east (range as given by Bascarán 1987), specifically: “valley of the Rio Negro” (see Remarks 3), September 1871 (Hudson 1872; two specimens in BMNH); in the area between General Conesa, San Antonio Oeste, and Viedma, currently (W.